So I had to go look. And since your implication is that the defination would include a gate search, and I dont see it - I am posting it here. This is one of the few things that bug me - the use of the word rape in the context of something that involves no physical harm to the person being searched and the use of the word Nazi to describe anyone acting like an ******* being the other.

Pronunciation: rāp
Noun 1. rape - Eurasian plant cultivated for its seed and as a forage crop
Brassica napus, colza
Brassica, genus Brassica - mustards: cabbages; cauliflowers; turnips; etc.
mustard - any of several cruciferous plants of the genus Brassica
rapeseed - seed of rape plants; source of an edible oil
2. rape - the act of despoiling a country in warfare
rapine
pillaging, plundering, pillage - the act of stealing valuable things from a place; "the plundering of the Parthenon"; "his plundering of the great authors"
3. rape - the crime of forcing a woman to submit to sexual intercourse against her will
ravishment, assault, violation
date rape - rape in which the rapist is known to the victim (as when they are on a date together)
sex crime, sex offense, sexual abuse, sexual assault - a statutory offense that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat; "most states have replaced the common law definition of rape with statutes defining sexual assault"
statutory rape, carnal abuse - sexual intercourse with a girl who has not reached the age of consent (even if both parties participate willingly)
Verb 1. rape - force (someone) to have sex against their will; "The woman was raped on her way home at night"
ravish, assault, dishonor, dishonour, outrage, violate
assail, assault, set on, attack - attack someone physically or emotionally; "The mugger assaulted the woman"; "Nightmares assailed him regularly"
gang-rape - rape (someone) successively with several attackers; "The prisoner was gang-raped"
2. rape - destroy and strip of its possession; "The soldiers raped the beautiful country"
despoil, plunder, violate, spoil
ruin, destroy - destroy completely; damage irreparably; "You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!"; "The tears ruined her make-up"

Legend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Gate searches. Hmm. I've had them at SEA, LHR, LGW and seen them at a couple of other airports in the USA. Never been overly bothered about them to be honest except for the last time at LGW where I'd had the exact same person do a 20 minute explosive check on my bag at checkin (odd combo of plastics etc caused positive test for TNT). Luckily he saw and remembered me and we contrived a way to get around it.

To be frank, other than the first-come-first-served seating flights, I'm at a loss to understand why people get upset. It's often pointless, but it's not like the flight is leaving without you. So rape, certainly not. Groping... pass. I see it more like getting trapped by someone really unpleasant at a party, a chore, but not really that much of a problem. But I guess that "Gate Boring Person at a Party" isn't as fun to say ;)

I understand it. I always brief of sigh of relief when I get past security. At that point I know that the carnival is over. An unexpected gate check is kind of like that. You get in your car to leave the carnival, and start to relax as you pull away from the lights and the noise and then you see a set of carnies scramble on your hood in an attempt to start a carnival on it.

Aside from from the peace of mind thing, there is the chance that you'll lose space for your carry-ons. I think that is the most pressing agitation.

Gate screening wouldn't be an imposition greater than the normal screening if they would just halt the boarding while each search happens. It's not fair to passengers to make them lose their place in the boarding line in addition to giving them the wand and unpacking their underwear in public. The airlines wouldn't stand for the delay, though, so a strict rule about boarding order being maintained would effectively rule out gate screening.

I agree with the issue about luggage space but if you're one of those people who travels with a small suitcase as cabin luggage then I don't have tremendous sympathy (they're usually Americans too, for some reason). On several flights my relatively small bag (big enough to contain laptop, CD player, camera, clean underwear) has been put several rows away because someone has filled my overhead with a bag the size of a small Eastern European tractor factory. If your delay has meant you're on the recieving end of that then you have my sympathy ;)

And I'm certainly not going to kill the messenger (so don't take the references to "you" and "we" below as meaning TSAMGR specifically), but I fail to understand the wisdom of gate screening. In effect, specific intelligence about a particular flight aside, what's being said is any one of a number of things:

1) We don't think the primary and secondary screening is cutting it.
2) We think that screening in other airports isn't cutting it.
3) We're worried about all those people wandering around the airport (i.e. airline, airport, and concession employees) and what they might sneak through their screening or just in general with the stuff they need to do their jobs.

What it also says, by nature of the randomness is:

1) We think terrorists are too stupid to figure out how to time their approach to the gate so as to avoid the "random" screening.
2) We still can't (i.e. are afraid that the ACLU will sue us) profile terrorists, so we'll shake down an old lady or a kid now and then just to show how random we are being.

So to be effective, you either need to rescreen everybody at the gate or you hope that people who are up to no good are too stupid to figure out the system. In the meantime, you just give people more reasons to resent the system in general and increase their hassling of TSA (as clearly shown on this board).

As much as I hate MCI's general screening as you enter the gate area, at least that airport should be safe from gate screening since that whole gate area is effectively sterile with no concessions or rest rooms (which are my gripes about the gate areas there to begin with).

<sigh> There's got to be a better way.

^ :)

Well said.

I agree with you. I usedto be inolved in gate screening and felt really bad for the passengers that were in the front of the line to lose their place to be searched and end up in the back 1/3rd of the line to board. I know that some airlines (i.e. Southwest) have the first come first serve seating. I always feel bad screening those flights. I'd be ticked off to if I were a selectee. One thing I had seen with Southwest was at Raleigh. They had the selectees screened prior to boarding and isolated after screening. Then, they were first to board. I felt that was a good way to compensate for having to be screened.